[JURIST] Kyrgyzstan interim deputy leader Omurbek Tekebayev announced Thursday that the country would hold a referendum on a new constitution on July 27. Tekebayev, part of the interim government that took power two weeks ago amid an anti-government uprising [JURIST report], said the new constitution would guarantee [AFP report] a parliamentary republic and reduce the powers of the president in order to prevent authoritarianism. He said the new constitution will also try to prevent powerful parliamentary majorities by limiting any political party to only 50 seats out of a 90-seat parliament. The country's last parliament was controlled by the ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev's [BBC profile] Ak-Zhol party. Tekebayev also announced that elections in the country will be held on October 10.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] Kyrgyzstan's interim government to begin a comprehensive investigation into the violence between April 6 and 8 that resulted in the overthrow of president Bakiyev. Kyrgyz interim leader Roza Otunbayeva [Telegraph profile] said last week that Bakiyev should stand trial [JURIST report] for the recent violence. Despite the pledge to bring Bakiyev and his allies to justice, so far only former defense minister Baktybek Kaliyev has been arrested [AFP report]. The protests, prompted in part by a drastic increase in utility costs, led to at least 84 deaths [Reuters report] and many more injuries. Earlier this month, Otunbayeva launched the interim government [JURIST report] after the violence forced Bakiyev to flee the capital.

[JURIST] Former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] appeared before parliament [official website] Thursday to call for both his freedom and respect for the "rule of law." Fonseka argued for his release from what he characterized as an "illegal detention" [Al Jazeera report] and a byproduct of injustice, while also insisting on democratic improvements [BBC report] and institution of the "rule of law." He was temporarily released from military custody in order to attend the session, to which he traveled under guard. Fonseka faces two separate court-martials, charging him with participating in politics while in uniform and with improperly awarding army procurement contracts, but he successfully won a seat in parliament in elections held earlier this month. He maintains that the allegations are politically motivated. Fonseka is scheduled for a hearing before the Sri Lankan Supreme Court [official website] on April 26, where he will challenge his detention.

Earlier this month, Fonseka's trials were postponed [JURIST report] to allow the Sri Lankan Court of Appeals [official website] to examine the legality of court-martials. Fonseka was arrested [JURIST report] by the military in February after losing presidential elections held the previous month. In March, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court criticized [JURIST report] the government's treatment of the general. Sarath Nanda Silva, who retired from the Sri Lankan Supreme Court last year, accused the government of using the military justice system to prevent Fonseka from participating in the upcoming elections, and of violating Fonseka's civil rights. Silva also said that Fonseka's arrest was made in violation of the country's constitution [text].

[JURIST] The Netherlands Utrecht District Court on Thursday acquitted [decision, in Dutch; press release, in Dutch ] members of the Arab European League (AEL) of hate speech charges resulting from the posting a cartoon on their website that insinuated that the Holocaust was fabricated. The criminal complaint against the group alleged that the cartoon violated Article 137c of the Dutch Penal Code, which punishes individuals for making discriminatory and defamatory statements against certain groups. The AEL argued that they do not actually deny the historical facts of the Holocaust, but that the cartoon was posted to call attention to what they saw as a double standard in the distribution of Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed [JURIST news archive]. The court held that the cartoon was offensive, but that, in light an accompanying disclaimer and subsequent statements regarding its purpose, it was nevertheless protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights [text]:

Although the cartoon, in the opinion of the court, is in very bad taste and very hurtful for Jews and others, the right to make this statement is ensured given its specific context and purpose. In light of the case as a whole, an infringement on that right in the form of a criminal conviction is not proportional to the objective to which it serves.

[JURIST] The Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) war crimes court [official website] on Thursday convicted [press release] Radomir Vukovic and Zoran Tomic for their alleged roles in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian civil war [JURIST news archives]. The accused were found guilty of genocide under Article 171 paragraph a) of the BiH criminal code [text, PDF] and were each sentenced to 31 years imprisonment. As members of the 2nd Sekovici Special Police Detachment, the court found that Vukovic and Tomic participated in capturing Bosniak men from the UN safe area and in securing a road to allow the transfer of Bosniak women, children, and elderly. The court also held that the accused knowingly aided in the event in which 1,000 Bosniak men were imprisoned in a warehouse and then executed by Serb police firing automatic weapons and throwing hand grenades. Vukovic participated by throwing hand grenades and Tomic fired an automatic rifle at the captured men. The court extended custody of the accused for up to nine months or until the court issues a new decision.

In March, the BiH indicted Nedjo Ikonic [JURIST report], a former Serb commander of a special police brigade, for his alleged role in the Srebrenica massacre. The BiH war crimes court was set up in 2005 to relieve the caseload of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website], and is authorized to try lower-level war crime suspects. The court delivered its first sentences [JURIST report] against war crimes suspects from Yugoslavia's violent ethnic conflicts of the 1990s in July 2008, convicting seven of genocide for their involvement in killings committed at the Srebrenica prison camp. The ICTY retains jurisdiction over high-level war crimes allegations, such as those against Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY materials; JURIST news archive] and General Ratko Mladic [ICTY materials].

[JURIST] A US military panel in Iraq on Thursday acquitted Navy SEAL [official website] Julio Huertas of any wrongdoing in connection with the alleged assault of a high-profile Iraqi detainee. A six-person jury found Huertas not guilty [AP report] on charges of dereliction of duty and impeding an investigation for taking no action while a fellow SEAL allegedly punched and kicked Iraqi prisoner Ahmed Hashim Abed. US authorities believe Abed to be the mastermind behind the 2004 Blackwater [JURIST news archive] contractor killings in Falluja. A US military judge ruled [JURIST report] in January that Huertas's court-martial would be held at Camp Victory [GlobalSecurity Backgrounder] in Baghdad, Iraq, so that Abed could testify against him. Two other Navy SEALs, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe and Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, have also been charged in connection with the incident, and their trial is scheduled to begin Friday.

Detainee abuse has been a major issue during the Iraq war. In September 2008, the UK Defense Ministry [official website] admitted [JURIST report] the unlawful abuse of nine detainees and announced monetary compensation. Three British soldiers were ultimately convicted [JURIST report], and dishonorably discharged. In 2005, another Navy SEAL was charged [JURIST report] with assault, dereliction of duty, and conduct unbecoming of an officer stemming from the treatment of an Iraqi prisoner. Abuse of detainees during the Iraq War [JURIST news archive] first garnered international attention after the 2004 release of pictures depicting prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison [CBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] in Iraq.

[JURIST] A group of more than 30 privacy and civil liberty groups on Wednesday asked [petition, PDF; press release] the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] to suspend the full body scanner [TSA backgrounder] program being implemented by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) [official website]. The petition states that use of the full body scanner program is an invasion of privacy [JURIST news archive] and that:

deployment of Full Body Scanners in US airports, as currently proposed, violates the U.S. Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("RFRA"), the Privacy Act of 1974 ("Privacy Act"), and the Administrative Procedures Act ("APA"). As described below, the FBS program effectively subjects all air travelers to unconstitutionally intrusive searches that are disproportionate and for which the TSA lacks any suspicion of wrongdoing.

[JURIST] German federal prosecutors said Wednesday that they have charged former Red Army Faction (RAF) [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] member Verena Beckman for the 1977 murders of federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and two other men. Beckman was originally arrested two months after Buback's assassination and served 12 years of a life sentence for her role in other killings before she was pardoned and freed [BBC report] in 1989 by former president Richard von Weizsaecker [profile]. Prosecutors reopened the case in light of new DNA evidence [AP report] linking Beckman to the high-profile murder. The RAF, commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang [BBC backgrounder], was a leftist group that targeted political and financial institutions and personnel, killing 34 people between 1968 and 1998.

Some reports allege that, in the aftermath of the RAF's terrorist attacks, German officials tortured RAF prisoners [JURIST comment] and compromised their trials. In 2008, a German court granted parole [JURIST report] for RAF leader Christian Klar after he served 26 years in prison on nine counts of murder and 11 counts of attempted murder. The court found no grounds [BBC report] on which continue to detain him, and he was released last year. Before being granted parole, Klar had called for the defeat of capitalism [Der Spiegel report] and lost an appeal for clemency [JURIST report]. Other prominent RAF members, including Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Eve Haule [JURIST reports], have also been paroled in recent years.

[JURIST] Rwandan authorities arrested opposition presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza [campaign website] Wednesday, accusing her of denying the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder; JURIST news archive] and collaborating with terrorists. Authorities cited Ingabire's call for the prosecution [AFP report] of those who killed Hutus during the genocide, in which over 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were slain, as evidence of her denial of the genocide. Prosecutors also alleged that Ingabire has collaborated with Hutu rebels in the Democratic Republic of Rwanda, which borders Rwanda. The arrest comes at a time when current Tutsi President Paul Kagame [official website] has received criticism [press release] from Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] for his treatment of opposition parties. The United Democratic Forces (FDU) [official website], the party chaired by Ingabire, released a statement Wednesday condemning the arrest [press release]:

Such a barbaric and unlawful act against a peace loving mother who braved the system to show that there is another way to bring about lasting peace and development in Rwanda is not only a challenge to the conscience and dignity of the Rwandan people but also to the international community, in particular foreign governments who are sponsoring the government.

[JURIST] A US government official said Wednesday that at least five accused Somali pirates [JURIST news archive] will face charges in the US [AP report], according to the Associated Press. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the transfers are pending, said that the accused will arrive in Norfolk, Virginia, by the end of this week. Although Kenyan courts are no longer willing to prosecute [JURIST report] piracy cases, the source claims that not all 21 of those recently arrested in piracy incidents will face charges in the US. US State Department [official website] spokesperson Philip Crowley told reporters [daily press briefing] Wednesday, "I would not deny that we have plans to bring pirates who are responsible for attacks against our vessels back to the United States." Crowley added that, "Kenya is reaching a capacity problem – challenge. So this is where all countries have to step up just as we are doing and take responsibility for pirates who have attacked their ships and prosecute them to the fullest extent of national law."

In January, the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau (IMB) [official website] reported that 2009 marked the worst year for maritime piracy [JURIST report] in six years. The information indicated that the total reported incidents of piracy reached 406, surpassing 400 for the first time since 2003. Earlier that month, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York filed a superseding indictment [JURIST report] against alleged Somali pirate Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, claiming that he led the takeover of two additional ships. Muse pleaded not guilty to the charges. In November, Somali judge Mohamed Abdi Aware, known for jailing suspected pirates, human traffickers, and Islamist insurgents, was shot dead [JURIST report] while leaving a mosque in the Puntland city of Bossaso.